Microsoft set to unveil “a new generation of Xbox” on May 21

The rumors are now officially true (well, one of the rumors, anyway). Microsoft announced that it will be showing off "a new generation of Xbox" at its Redmond, WA campus starting at 10am PST on May 21.

An invite sent to press and industry watchers today tells recipients that "Don Mattrick and the Xbox team invite you to the Xbox campus for a special unveiling." A note sent out to Xbox owners on Microsoft's official e-mail list (and on the Web) mentions that the event will be streamed live on Spike TV and Xbox.com, as well as through Xbox Live itself.

Microsoft representatives are obviously remaining tight-lipped about what will be announced and shown, but they are recommending that press block off the entire day for "interviews and activities" (including playable demos? Microsoft wouldn't say).

The event comes just weeks before the industry's annual E3 confab, which starts on June 11 and usually features a pre-show press event from Microsoft. It's currently unclear whether this "new generation" reveal is a replacement for that event or the first part of a quick one-two punch of Microsoft gaming announcements. Microsoft's official entry into the next-generation race comes a little more than three months after Sony kicked things off with the unveiling of the PlayStation 4 in New York City. Sony still has yet to reveal that system's precise launch date and price point or allow it to be widely playable by the press.

Ars will be there with a liveblog and full coverage as Microsoft unveils its next-generation plans.

Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl

Will the 360's successor have an "always-on" requirement (more specifically, what does the phrase 'always-on' mean?), and will customers without Xbox Live and/or Internet access still be able to play their vidja games, or did they just buy a very expensive paperweight?

So long as they don't have the "always online" requirement, I will be happy. I'll probably still be buying, but I just hope they don't require "always online". Sometimes I just want to disconnect from Xbox Live and get completely absorbed in a game of Skyrim, without having the distraction of "<Gamertag X> is online"... "<Gamertag X> wants you to join an Xbox Live Party"... "<Gamertag X> wants you to play Gears of War: Judgment (or some other game I don't own)"...

I've only owned Nintendo and Sony consoles to date, but will keep an open mind and look to the official announcement with interest.

Just an observation - their nomenclature seems like it could be problematic. If they choose to increment by 360 (assuming they initially meant it to refer to degrees?), this new console would be "Xbox720" at a time when many, if not most, TV owners know the meaning of "1080p" in the context of their display quality. Would an Xbox720 confuse some people to thinking it only displays 720p resolution? What about an Xbox1080 six years from now, when displays will have 4k lines of resolution or more?

So long as they don't have the "always online" requirement, I will be happy. I'll probably still be buying, but I just hope they don't require "always online". Sometimes I just want to disconnect from Xbox Live and get completely absorbed in a game of Skyrim, without having the distraction of "<Gamertag X> is online"... "<Gamertag X> wants you to join an Xbox Live Party"... "<Gamertag X> wants you to play Gears of War: Judgment (or some other game I don't own)"...

In the guide, under one of the blades, there is a option for 'Notifications'. Turn those off when you don't want to be disturbed by invites or people logging in.

You'll have to toggle it every time you want them on/off, but there is that option for 'you' time.

Here's hoping they have dedicated hardware and more intuitive shortcut buttons for the guide, I'm sick of having to forfeit a match in an online game, just to do something trivial like invite a friend which should take about 3 seconds, but instead takes 30.

Even with the new Xbox Slim, the guide sluggishly loads up, constantly ignores/lags your input in favour of finishing the swishy animations, makes you wait around there while it confirms your action, then even takes another few seconds to fuck off again, the time lost can often mean the difference between a win / loss in any competitive game.

Ideally, you should have the option to operate a half-screen guide with the D-pad+A/B, while still shooting/moving/driving with the triggers/shoulders/analogue sticks.

It should have dedicated hardware to ensure that it can act at least as fast as I can and sensible priorities like prioritising user input over an animation that won't even be noticed a week after owning the console; a gaming computer that reacts slower than it's user is a joke. I understand that some of what the guide shows is networked data, but have these clowns over heard of local storage, caching, or UX design?

Also, if they still didn't get the memo about people hating always-online DRM-ified garbage... no deal.

Edit: Anyone care to explain what's so wrong about wanting a slick interface on a gaming console?

I'm still waiting to find out what the future of the XBox Indie Dev is going to look like.

Because by all indications so far, it'll be a nuclear wasteland.

By all indications so far you mean 100% conjecture?

If anything the only indication that holds any water is Microsoft's unification of Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Phone, and Xbox into one unified ecosystem. As it is, RT/W8 Marketplace is quite easy to develop for. If they offer an API to allow easy porting of RT/W8 Store code, we're talking a cakewalk for devs.

It may even beef up interest in Windows 8/Windows Phone. Microsoft would be stupid to not seize the opportunity in front of them. Here's to hoping (though not holding my breath)

I'm still waiting to find out what the future of the XBox Indie Dev is going to look like.

Because by all indications so far, it'll be a nuclear wasteland.

Considering they're currently the only console out there with a low-barrier Indie game framework/marketplace, I find your statement somewhat nonsensical. Care to direct me to an indie marketplace on the PS3 or Wii to prove otherwise? Thought not.

Sony really learned from their bungled PS3 launch (as documented in the latest issue of Edge). What are the chances MS learned all the wrong lessons from managing to come out of nowhere with the X360 and go from last place to dead heat? It sure seems like it.

But I guess we'll find out May 21! 'Ha ha, yeah, guys you didn't believe all those ridiculous rumors, right?'

Curious to see if they even comment on the always on internet requirement rumor, seeing as how inflammatory the issue can be. A bit hard for them not to at this point, though. It will be one less customer if they go that route, there's enough PC games to stay entertained.

Sony really learned from their bungled PS3 launch (as documented in the latest issue of Edge). What are the chances MS learned all the wrong lessons from managing to come out of nowhere with the X360 and go from last place to dead heat? It sure seems like it.

But I guess we'll find out May 21! 'Ha ha, yeah, guys you didn't believe all those ridiculous rumors, right?'

They're going to have to address the rumors. And by address, I mean confirm. If there was damage control to be done by denying the rumors, that would have happened as the rumors swept across the internet, and were all but confirmed by silence from MS.

I fully expect a 'boo' to rise out of the crowd as MS tries justifying how always-on connectivity will be necessary for single-player games.

I've only owned Nintendo and Sony consoles to date, but will keep an open mind and look to the official announcement with interest.

Just an observation - their nomenclature seems like it could be problematic. If they choose to increment by 360 (assuming they initially meant it to refer to degrees?), this new console would be "Xbox720" at a time when many, if not most, TV owners know the meaning of "1080p" in the context of their display quality. Would an Xbox720 confuse some people to thinking it only displays 720p resolution? What about an Xbox1080 six years from now, when displays will have 4k lines of resolution or more?

You would think that a Company as bright as Microsoft would be able to figure that one out. I'm not sure why people even speculate on the thing being called the Xbox 720.

"Always online" just simply doesn't make sense at this time. In the next generation, perhaps, but there are still too many places (Hello, Canada!) with metered internet access, and too many potential points of failure for keeping things online. Bricking someone's entire console (temporarily) just because their local CO took a dump is daft.

As for the naming, I'm still putting my money on Xbox neXt. Apple's trademark on NeXT has long since expired, right?

I'm really curious as to what they're going to call the thing. I currently own a 360 and I'll probably pick up either the PS4 or this. It really depends what the exclusives/vs hardware and price is like. If Microsoft continues to charge to let you play online and Sony doesn't that might just be enough to make me switch.

P.S. I live in Canada and it's definitely possible to get high speed internet without a download cap, I have it.

If it is always online and/or blocks used games, it is a no-go for me. I just think back to the Playstation Network outage a few years ago. At the time I was at home recovering from a major surgery, and Fallout: New Vegas on my PS3 kept me sane. If PS3 had needed to phone home to even boot up a game, I would have been SOL. So no thanks.

Also no thanks to the no used game piece (which also nixes renting, trading or borrowing games). It's totally consumer-unfriendly and won't fly with me, and I'm not about to accept the idea that game publishers deserve a cut every time a copy of their game changes hands.

One-time install discs don't bother you? Obviously, it's a nonstarter for people who are comfortable with waiting and not having to pay full price for newly released games (like me) but it affects all people that buy games. Want to sell your games to buy another one? Tough luck, your game now has 0 resale value. Not thinking of selling your games right now? What about 10-20 years later? Many retro games that are rare go up in value over time and even some recent games (look up xenoblade chronicles on ebay). Your console will be worthless too because eventually no games can be played on it because they stop making new games for it.

Having said all that, I doubt MS will go that route. They can't be THAT crazy... right?

So long as they don't have the "always online" requirement, I will be happy. I'll probably still be buying, but I just hope they don't require "always online". Sometimes I just want to disconnect from Xbox Live and get completely absorbed in a game of Skyrim, without having the distraction of "<Gamertag X> is online"... "<Gamertag X> wants you to join an Xbox Live Party"... "<Gamertag X> wants you to play Gears of War: Judgment (or some other game I don't own)"...